1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a garment hanger capable of preventing shoulders of a jacket from being deformed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Jackets such as business suit coats, blazers or the like that have been cleaned at laundries are kept hung on hangers to maintain their shapes until the customers collect them. Such hangers used at laundries must be as inexpensive as possible because the price of hangers is only a nominal addition to laundry charges.
Conventionally, wire hangers have been the most prominent and widely used type. However, as wire is small in diameter and thin, the shoulders of a jacket kept hung on a wire hanger are creased and lose their original shape. Garments collected from laundries tend not to be worn for some time. In particular, garments returned from laundries at the end of a season are often kept hung on hangers with dust covers in wardrobes until the next appropriate season comes after several months. Thus, not only shoulders, but also the front and back portions sag and crease, and these creases are unlikely to smooth out when the garments are worn.
In order to solve the above problems, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publications No. 2000-060715, 2001-169894, Hei 11-313749 and Hei 11-318684, for example, disclose hangers provided with pads mounted on their shoulder parts to round corners of the hangers.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-169998 discloses a hanger in which shoulder members are integrally formed and mounted to a hanger body.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 61-30551 discloses a hanger cover to be attached to a wire hanger in which shoulder-portion-forming members are integrally mounted to both sides of a neck-portion-forming member having a through hole for inserting a hanger hook, and a slit to be closed after assembly is formed from a bottom to a top of the neck-portion-forming member at a center thereof.
However, in the hangers described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publications No. 2000-060715, 2001-169894, Hei 11-313749 and Hei 11-318684, at least three members, that is, a hanger body and two pads for both shoulders are required, which increases production costs and also makes assembly processes complex.
In this regard, the hanger described in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-169998 requires only two members because the pad for both shoulders is formed as a single part. Still, processes for manufacturing a plurality of members and assembling them are needed, posing limitations on cost saving.
In addition, when transporting the hangers disclosed in the above five publications from manufacturers to laundries or cleaning factories, separate containers for respective members are necessary, leading to higher transport costs.
According to the hanger cover disclosed in the above sixth publication, i.e., Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 61-30551, a large number of hangers can be closely stacked. However, as the hanger cover is mounted to a wire hanger for use, the manufacturing cost is high.
Apart from the above-described hangers, there have been three-dimensional hangers made of plastic with both shoulder parts formed in three-dimensional configurations. These hangers require high production costs. In addition, as the three-dimensional hangers cannot be stacked, it is difficult to put a large number of hangers in a box for transporting, requiring higher transportation expenses.
An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost garment hanger with a function of preventing shoulders of a garment from being deformed, which can be assembled through a one-touch operation, does not occupy much space in transit, and reduces the number of members.